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nightmares
a one-shot
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The night was quiet. Too quiet.

When one wakes from a bad dream, you would expect them to shoot upright on their bed, back straight and eyes pried open, pupils dilated in fear as their body trembles when making contact with the chilly night air. This was not the case for Eva. No, instead, his eyelids flitted open slowly as he processed the dull luminescence of pale moonlight filtering through the lace curtains hung upon his windowsill, delicate heart thrumming against his ribcage erratically. Hazel eyes sparkled with iridescent lustre in the darkness of the spacious bedroom, very much wide awake. What did he just see? Question upon question stirred in his mind, yet the words seemed to tangle and twist together as they reached his throat, lips sealed shut, unable to formulate words. Small, dainty fingers clutching onto the soft comfort of the cloth draped upon the small boy's figure, the little prince squirmed from underneath his blanket, animatedly sitting upright, legs crossed upon his bouncy mattress. The boy's sharp inhales cut through the tranquil silence of the nighttime, breathing laboured as images flashed before his eyes. His bed - where did it go? Where was he?

Red. All he saw was red, splattered upon everything. His surroundings were comparable to that of an old static TV, flickering from the walls of his bedroom to just. . . crimson. He didn't like that. He didn't like that at all.

Raising his hands to shield his ears, the little boy shut his eyes, shoulders stiff as a board. This. . . noise couldn't stop ringing, echoing in his head, a deafening static in the midst of the screaming. Screaming? Who was screaming? He didn't know, he didn't want to know - he just wanted it to stop.

And then?

Silence. The turmoils dissipated, carried away by the icy night wind sifting through that one crack in his window frame. The only thing that echoed in the room was his heartbeat, blood pumping through his veins, and he swore he felt like his chest was about to burst. There was no red, no creaming. Just those abalone walls he'd memorised the patterns of instead of reading his kingdom history book. Just the bedsheets he wrapped himself in every night, imaging that the hands tucking him in for sleep was his mother's. Nothing else.

A shaky breath of relief escaped his small, delicate lips. There's nothing to be scared of.

It's just a dream.

The young prince didn't know what he was doing. His legs seemed to have minds of their own, bare feet padding against the freezing marble-like floors of the gloomy hallway. He did what he felt was natural — no other thoughts crossed his mind as his footsteps echoed softly in the vast hallways, the boy advancing into the pitch-black void, his baby blue blanket trailing close behind.

Left. Right. Right. Straight. The winding passageways of the palace only led to one destination and one destination only for Eva: the door he'd been face-to-face with for so many instances before, the one that he'd been turned away from and told to avoid. No matter how large the palace was, there was one place the young prince knew by heart.

It was the one room in the palace that he wasn't allowed into during the daytime. It was then - as his clenched fist hovered in front of the door, ready to rap his knuckles upon the wood - that realisation struck, and so he paused. Should he knock? Weary hazel eyes meandered from the small prince's wrist to the door to the floor beneath. It was a mistake to wander about without his slippers. Now, he could feel the chilly blasts of night air first-hand, ruffling past his thin silk garments. Cold. It was so cold. He could feel the tiny hairs on his slender arms raise up as if just injected with a jolt of static electricity, shivers travelling throughout his body. At this point, there was no turning back.

Knock. Knock.

Bare knuckles rapped against the wood, hollow knocks echoing through the palace. The prince's hot breath seemed to hitch in anticipation, eyes sparkling like pools of liquid moonlight within the gloom.

Could this be it?

Would the door open to reveal tender, loving arms, waiting to pull him in and engulf him with warmth?

So there he stood, waiting. Choppy brown locks dishevelled, silky robes wrinkled, cotton blanket tangled beneath his feet. He was desperate - just a little click, a small creak to cut through the stale silence.

Something to let him know they're there. That they're behind that door. That he has someone to turn to after all.

The darkness was frightening, the boy admitted. The longer he stayed in it, the more that he felt as if the shadows were creeping in closer, slithering around his legs tantalisingly, as if to state that it was fully capable of swallowing him whole at any given moment. Even the slightest whisper of the wind was mortifying when enveloped in the black abyss that was this hallway, and Eva wasn't exactly the best at masking his distress. Seconds flew by swiftly - then a minute passed by. Still nothing. Small fingers tightened their grip on the warm cloth. Just a few more seconds, he convinced himself. They'll definitely open the door.

Moments passed.

Nothing but silence was returned.

Eva should've figured, but here he was, still biting his lip in anticipation, eager to hear at least some tiny noise emit from the bedroom beyond. Not for a second did he doubt that his mother would come out eventually and pat his head, tangle her fingers within his hair, give him a sweet kiss goodnight and let him sleep with them for the night. And that, perhaps, was his greatest mistake.

Then, he felt a hand on his shoulder and he could've sworn the world stopped spinning.

Voice brittle, his parched lips parted to utter one word; "Mom?" queried the boy hopefully, hazel eyes shimmering with the faintest trace of hope. His wide eyes met foreign dark ones - this was not his mother. "Prince Evangelus, what are you doing up this late?" the maid's soft, honeyed voice was not enough to fill the disappointment that sunk into Eva's fragile little heart, the spark of hope smothered just as quickly as it had ignited. Pointing towards the door, the little boy murmured softly, "I had a nightmare," He clutched the blanket he'd dragged along with him closer to his chest for comfort, gaze drifting to his bare feet to avoid the looming stare of the adult. "so I went to see mommy." he concluded.

"The Queen is asleep. You shouldn't interrupt her after a long day of work, Prince Evangelus. I'm sure you know this."

Eva's spirits deflated, shoulders slumping in defeat. Mommy was busy. She needed rest. It was selfish of him to want to wake her up. "I know." was all he could muster up in response, head hanging low. Maybe not this night, then. Maybe next time, when mommy wasn't so busy. "You should go back to your room and get some sleep, Prince Evangelus. Nightmares can't hurt you." urged the maid, kneeling down to fix his crooked robes. "You're the prince. You're not supposed to be scared of dreams." she reminded him. She was right. Mommy wants that. Everyone wants that from 7-year-old Eva. Now he, in turn, was the one responding with silence, merely nodding as the fatigue of the night finally registered in his senses. Just agree. Just nod and agree.

"Now, off you go to your room," the maid chastised, standing upright after patting the boy's head of brown hair. "you wouldn't want your mother getting angry because you didn't get enough sleep, would you?" and with that, the maid turned to exit the hallway, but not before she felt a tug on her dress. Turning around, she was met with pleading eyes and a pout, the child meaning to say something. "Can you walk me there?" the little boy pleaded, fingers fumbling with the blue cloth he carried around. "Please?" he called out once again, unable to mask the distress of being left alone in the dark without anyone to accompany him. He was a child, after all. With a reluctant sigh, the maid took his small hands in hers, the ghost of a smile lingering upon her lips.

"As you wish, Prince Evangelus."

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(  ahahaha formatting who ship only knows lazy- anyways yes i actually finished writing something on my own >:D how amazing gkfdsgjfk this is sort of anticlimactic, considering the last chapter, but oh well  )